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SubjectRe: 2.1.117 up: ALS100 soundcard and pc speaker.
Date
Hi Paul

> Firstly, apologies for the terrible formatting of the quotes in this email.
> We're MS exchange only at work. :(
:-)

> > Which kernel did you come from?
> came from 2.0.35. Went to 2.1.117, and have also tried .119 .121 .124 and
> .125. One of the reasons I changed to .117 was that accodring to the docs
> the sound module supported the ALS100 mixer fully.
As far as I am aware, the support of the ALS100 is the result of some work i
did with the sb driver earlier this year in connection with the ALS007.
However, my code only added detection of the ALS100; no additional mixer
details were added. Having said that, the latest sounddriver in the kernel
should drive your card as a SB16 since that's what the ALS100 essentially
is. Perhaps the standard 2.0.35 code (which i haven't used in 2.0.x for
months) doesn't (i currently use a patched oss3.8s9).

> > > My soundcard is a SB pro compatible Avance Logic ALS100. The soundcard
> > > dcriver is compiled as modules.
> > What is the result when you do a
> > cat /proc/sndstat
> > ?
> I'm at work so i can't give an exact output. But it did recognise it as an
> ALS100.
Ah ha. That certainly suggests that the kernel is happy with it and that
configuration is ok. I'm still interested to see the output though at some
stage if possible.

> > > The problem starts immediately the first time the modules are loaded
> > > after a boot. Then it doesn't go away, even when the sound card modules
> > > are unloaded. Only a reboot and not loading the soundcard modules makes
> > > the problem go away.
> > This sounds like the PC speaker signal *may* be physically connected to
> > an auxillary input on the soundcard. Does the PC in question have an
> > internal speaker? Does the internal speaker work before and/or after
> > loading of the sound module?
> If the sound modules aren't loaded, then everything is fine. Bells are only
> heard on the PC speaker.
Expected.

> If the module has been loaded. Then console bells are heard on the PC
> speaker and the soundcard, at the same time. Changing the pc speaker volume
> works for both outputs (pc speaker and soundcard).
This definitely smells like a hardware issue rather than a kernel issue.
(Especially given that I have documented cases of at least 6 people with
ALS100 cards which don't echo the speaker).

> The problem doesn't go away if i unload the modules. Only a reboot will cure
> it.
Unloading the sound module does not alter mixer settings so I would not
expect the unloading to mute the input concerned. What seems to happen is
that the affected channel is muted on powerup but is turned up by the
kernel's sound driver.

> A physical connection is the most obvious answer i agree. But apart from the
> cd-rom audio cable and the actual ISA bus i don't see any. :). The pc
> speaker plugs into the motherboard where it should and no where else.
You are doubly sure of this?
(We are dealing with a separate card here as opposed to a built in "card" on
the mainboard, aren't we?).

> Are there any other possibilities? The pc speaker connects to the
> motherboard - could it somehow echo pc speaker output to the soundcard? It's
> a TMC TI5VG+ board with a VIA mvp3+ chipset.
I am not familar with the chipset concerned, but i very much doubt that a
mainboard can carry out such echoing to a sound card since the BIOS would
need to know how to drive the card and it would not be feasible to write
such a driver to cover the vast array of cards available.

> Could it be responsible? And if so how do we get the driver to work around
> the problem? I do want to hear the pc speaker, just not at 100dB from the
> soundcard speakers :)
I'll give this some more thought tonight. The fact that the speaker's
volume affects the volume coming from the soundcard suggests that there is
connection between the two in some way or another.

A few things for you to check: is the PC speaker wire anywhere near the
soundcard? Does the placement of this wire affect the volume through the
soundcard? Does the sound card continue to beep even when the internal
speaker is unplugged from the mainboard? Finally, get hold of a mixer
program (check out sunsite, there's plenty there) and turn down the mic
input. Does this affect the reproduction of the speaker sound through the
card? Conversely, if you boot 2.0.35 again and turn the mic input (and/or
all other inputs) up can you reproduce the speaker sound through the
soundcard?

Regards
jonathan
--
* Jonathan Woithe jwoithe@physics.adelaide.edu.au *
* http://www.physics.adelaide.edu.au/~jwoithe/home.html *
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* "...you wouldn't recognize a subtle plan if it painted itself purple *
* and danced naked on a harpsicord singing 'subtle plans are here again'" *

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